A man who drove five-and-a-half kilometres in oncoming lanes on Highway 1 traffic and collided head-on with a minivan carrying a young family has been sentenced to eight months in jail and a five-year driving prohibition.
Craig Ford, 48, stood solemnly as Judge Steven Merrick handed down his decision in North Vancouver provincial court Friday. Ford, who is from Nanaimo, had pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing bodily harm stemming from the March 12, 2014 incident.
While high on the drug GHB, Ford recklessly drove the wrong way down the highway in West Vancouver around 7 o’clock in the evening between the Cypress Bowl Road and Capilano Road exits, terrifying at least 22 adults and seven children in separate vehicles, according to information presented during his sentencing hearing in March.
Ford’s trail of terror came to an abrupt end near the Capilano River bridge when he collided head-on with a minivan carrying a family of four. A witness at the scene recalled seeing the heavily damaged minivan with the airbags deployed and a toddler being held by her screaming mother.
The youngest victim, a 2½-year-old girl, was taken to hospital with a fractured shoulder that required surgery.
Her parents suffered soft tissue injuries and continue to suffer physical and psychological problems related to the crash a year later, said Crown prosecutor Ron Edwards, during the sentencing hearing.
Ford’s defence lawyer, Brian Mickelson, had asked for a 90-day intermittent jail sentence to be served on weekends to allow Ford to continue his inpatient drug rehabilitation program.
But Merrick rejected that.
While noting Ford has no prior criminal record, is “extremely remorseful,” and has stopped using drugs, the judge said he also had to consider the victims’ lasting psychological damage in deciding “a significant jail sentence must be imposed.”
“Mr. Ford’s moral culpability is very high,” said Merrick.
In imposing a five-year driving ban, Merrick told the court that driving is a privilege and not a right.
“The manner of driving (in this case) is a shockingly marked departure from the norm,” said Merrick.
Ford will also be put on two years of probation after serving his jail sentence, and must attend any counselling programs directed by his probation officer.
